21st October 2003: At times like
these, I find it easier for my sanity and overall well-being to remain
philosophical. And as I live some 120 miles from the Hawthorns, I've
had a couple of hours in the car to compose my thoughts.
Albion lost the match tonight to a Wimbledon side who offered no attacking
threat, showed little ambition, but defended in a resolute, organised
and very effective manner. Before last Saturday, they'd only been
losing by the odd goal so I didn't expect a rout. Despite the defeat,
we remain second in the table, two points behind Wigan with a game
in hand. It's hardly a desperate situation, and the calls for Megson's
head that I've seen on message boards this evening are nothing short
of ridiculous.
Nonetheless, I will criticise Megson. After their 6-0 drubbing at
the weekend, it was obvious that Wimbledon would come to the Hawthorns
and put 10 men behind the ball and hope to come away with a point.
It was equally obvious from the last few games that the 3-5-2 formation
that we have been playing is not very effective as an attacking threat
against a well-organised defence. Finally, but perhaps not so obvious,
it seems that Megson has been buying players that would be comfortable
in a 4-4-2 formation, the latest being Paul Robinson, who has played
mostly as an orthodox left back in his career with Watford. The obvious
answer for me, and the majority of Albion fans with whom I have discussed
this, was to start with a 4-4-2 this evening.
In his infinite wisdom, Lord Gary elected to start with the same team
that started the game at Norwich. After 20 exasperating minutes in
which Albion prodded and probed with little effect, Gregan was pushed
into midfield, Koumas went to the right wing and Wallwork to the left.
After a further 25 exasperating minutes, with Albion more effective,
but Wallwork evidently uncomfortable in a left wing position, we arrived
at half time goalless.
Eleven minutes after the break, Megson had finally got the eleven
he should've started with on the pitch as Sakiri and Hughes joined
the fray. But even then, Koumas was on the left and Sakiri on the
right! Sakiri was obviously surprised as he lined up on the left wing
with Koumas initially until Megson made him move over to the right
- given that the substitution was made at half time, I'm amazed that
Sakiri didn't know where he was going to play!
Even so, with Hughes infinitely more lively than Dobie, Albion looked
a much more potent threat but more than half the game had been wasted.
Chances came and went, and Albion pushed more men forward and got
caught.
So yes, GM could have done better tactically - obviously, we don't
know if it would have changed the result, it may just have been one
of those nights. We didn't play that badly and on a good night, we
could've had three or four goals easily. If the blame falls on anyone,
it has to be the strikers. These things happen - I seem to remember
Stockport winning at Man City in their promotion season; it's only
one game.
It's been a bad week, but we haven't lost touch. We could drop to
third tomorrow if West Ham beat Forest, but we're still up there.
What we must do is pick ourselves up and push on. We've got some tough
games coming up, and we need to learn from the last week and make
sure that we keep up with the pace. Promotion is not won in October,
so let's not lose heart just yet.
Just one other point - excellent attendance considering it was the
third game in a week and Wimbledon brought twenty-eight fans (that
was the count after half an hour!).
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